Morning Buzz: Monday 4.5.10

LegalZoom is still looking to leave L.A., seeking funds to cap the Hollywood Freeway for a park, assault charges against jail deputies, Hot Tub Political Machine and more politics and media notes.

Mayor Villaraigosa, of all politicians, should have known the political risks inherent in playing with the Department of Water and Power, says Rick Orlov. DN

The budget mess has "forced city officials to confront a problem they have long tried to ignore -- a steady growth of the city payroll for the last decade," says Phil Willon. LAT

LegalZoom, which led the fight for reform of the city business taxes levied on Internet companies, didn't get all it wanted and may now leave town anyway. LABJ

Rep. Xavier Becerra has agreed to seek $5.85 million to launch planning for the park that some want to build over the Hollywood Freeway. LABJ

I guess this concept was sort of inevitable: Jon Regardie offers up the Hot Tub Political Machine. Downtown News

The four men of Armenian heritage murdered in an apparent targeted hit at The Hot Spot on Riverside Drive in Valley Village had been at a funeral earlier in the day. LAT, DN

The DA's office has "quietly filed assault charges against three sheriff's deputies accused of punching and kicking a jail inmate after he was disrespectful to a guard," the Times' Jack Leonard reports. LAT

Transit executives from Los Angeles and Orange counties want the state high-speed rail project to share existing tracks between Anaheim and Union Station rather than spend $2 billion laying new track and condemning property along the route. LAT

An additional 49 LAPD officers were redeployed to the Valley bureau partly in response to recent crime trends. DN